State Sen. SAM McCANN, R-Carlinville, caught my attention with his references to God as part of his speech at Saturday’s rally for gun rights near the Statehouse.

“The Constitution that all of us here today would gladly fight and die to defend gives us a very clear description, a very clear set of directions on what our form of government should look like in practice,” McCann said. “And that is a government in which the people control the government and the government does not control the people.

“And our generation is now charged with fighting to ensure that this great nation will remain a government, not of the politician, not of the entitlement seekers, but a government of the people, by the people and for the people. To live up to the great expectations placed on our generation, we must pass the mantle of liberty to the next generation, and the only way we can accomplish this is to preserve our Second Amendment rights,” McCann said at the speech, recordings of which were posted on YouTube by 970 AM WMAY.

“They’re not privileges and they cannot be revoked by a bunch of politicians,” McCann added. “They were given to us by God almighty himself, himself, and we will stand strong on that. Our message to the legislators and executive officers of the state of Illinois and this nation is this: Do not attempt to diminish our liberty as co-equal citizens of this great land, but instead be champions of liberty. I pledge to you today, I will be a champion of liberty, so help me God.”

So, when I saw McCann at the Frontiers International Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast Monday, I asked about the speech. McCann made it clear he thinks gun rights and other rights — and not the Constitution written by people — are what he thinks come from God.

“All of our rights, the right to speech, the right to assembly, the right to join together and talk about ideas … the right to protect yourself — all of those rights I believe are given us by God,” McCann said. “It’s not just the Second Amendment. It’s all of the rights that are outlined and all of those that aren’t outlined, as a free citizen.”

I noted the Constitution had to be amended to include gun rights, to end slavery and let women vote.

“Nothing created by man is perfect,” McCann said. “You’re talking about the document. I’m talking about the rights, the inherent rights. … All of our rights are given by God. We wouldn’t be free if they were given by a document created by man.”

McCann also used the speech Saturday to say he will propose a state constitutional amendment to make Illinois the strongest pro-gun-rights state, and he said he would introduce legislation for “constitutional carry,” which would allow people to carry guns “open, concealed or otherwise.”

“I do believe in constitutional carry as permitted by the Second Amendment as granted to me by the creator, yes I do,” McCann told me. He said he would work with other legislators “to craft a bill that we all can live with.”

McCann last year introduced a bill to eliminate the requirement that people must have a state-issued firearm owners ID, or FOID, card to purchase guns. He told JIM LEACH on WMAY this week that he considers it “redundant” to “have a special form of identification just to get in line to undergo another background check.

As for a “carry” bill, he told Leach he will propose one that doesn’t require a background check to carry, but does to purchase a gun. He said he would also introduce language requiring a check to carry, as he seeks to work with colleagues to “get a bill passed that we can all live with.”

The current state constitution includes a section on “right to arm,” that states, “Subject only to the police power, the right of the individual citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Of course, the former gun-ownership ban in Chicago co-existed for years with that clause in the Constitution.

Given the extraordinary majorities Democrats now have in the House and Senate, McCann’s legislative goals may be difficult — even though some downstate Democrats also are strong advocates of gun rights. A federal appeals court panel has ordered Illinois lawmakers to come up with a carry law this year, though Attorney General LISA MADIGAN has asked the full appeals court for a review.

McCann also told me he thinks our society is “missing the boat” by not keying more on mental health in trying to fight mass shootings. He said most of the shootings are not by people “the liberals” are “trying to punish prospectively” with changes in gun laws.

“They’re being perpetrated primarily by folks who are crying out for help, and I don’t think we’re adequately equipped as a society,” McCann said. He noted that state developmental centers have been closed in Lincoln and Jacksonville.

“We’re diminishing the opportunities for folks to be helped, but we’re worried more, it seems … about persecuting people and denying them their rights, who are law-abiding people who have never committed a … violent crime. Why don’t we focus more on helping the people who seem to be more prone at … perpetrating these shootings?”

“I’m not saying we forego the federal laws that exist about background checks when a gun is purchased, certainly,” he said. “Every time a gun is purchased, background checks are performed.”

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McCann is now one of three members of the Senate representing Springfield. The others are Democrat ANDY MANAR of Bunker Hill and Republican BILL BRADY of Bloomington.

Memories of Maloof

I was saddened to hear of the passing of former Peoria Mayor JIM MALOOF, who died Saturday at age 93. He had been that city’s chief executive from 1985 to 1997.

Maloof was not only a politician who moved his city forward, he was a character. It was in late 1985 that I was in the back seat of a taxi in Tokyo with Maloof and a journalist from the Peoria Journal Star. Maloof had his arm around me and was singing.

My newspaper at the time, based in Bloomington, had me join a state trade mission to South Korea and Japan after Mitsubishi Motors had chosen Normal as the site of an auto plant. Then-Gov. JIM THOMPSON couldn’t make the trip, and Maloof ended up speaking for the Illinois group at events. He was a charmer.

PJStar.com, as part of its reporting on the passing of the late mayor, showed a 1985 photo of Maloof serenading shoppers, while wearing a robe and slippers, to mark a Peoria store’s grand opening (see photo at left).

That about says it all. So long, Mayor.

Bernard Schoenburg is political columnist for The State Journal-Register. He can be reached at 788-1540 or follow him via twitter.com/bschoenburg. His email address is bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com.